Topic: WorldNetDaily
A May 17 WorldNetDaily article about the Washington Times' 25th anniversary gala was awful quick to get posted -- the same evening as the gala -- prompting us to wonder if a WND representative was at theh event. There was ostensibly a news peg to that, thoguh: a "false fire alarm" that forced evacuation of the building where it was being held.
The article is slobberingly laudatory toward the Times, noting that "was set up to celebrate the courage of its staff, and the news organization's commitment to faith, family and freedom" and adding that "Newspaper founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon lit candles on an oversized cake in honor of the occasion." The article also stated: "It is the major alternative to the mainstream Washington Post, and under the leadership of Wedley [sic: Wesley] Pruden, editor-in-chief, and Managing Editor Francis Coombs, pursues the news of the day with high journalistic standards."
That's quite a different tune from WND. Last we heard, Joseph Farah was rushing to disassociate himself from Moon for declaring himself a messiah and spearheading a movement for churches to throw away their crosses as "a symbol of division, shame, suffering and bloodshed." But then, Farah never has renounced WND's previous business relationships with the Times and its Moonie owners, which included a content-sharing agreement with now-defunct (but revived as a website) magazine Insight and Farah's column appearing in the weekly national edition of the Times.
There's no mention at all of Moon's religious stunts in the article, let alone the Confederacy-revering, white-supremacist-leaning ties of Pruden and Coombs (not to mention Robert Stacy McCain).
The article also states that the Times' "online version, The Washington Times.com, is the fourth largest subscription newspaper on the Internet." But the Times' website is a free website, and no special online subscription is required to access most features. There is a registration-required "Insider" section that offers "expanded and improved content" and fewer ads, but that's free too.
All of this makes you wonder about those "high journalistic standards" at both the Times and WND.
